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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,908 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2368 Posts |
I've noticed after the past couple of years that wheats are getting harder and harder to find. Now I average about 10-15 a box. When do you think the wheat pennies will be gone from circulation, at least until its not worth trying to build the series of them from change? I'd say around 2030, because finding a Wheat penny from the thirties will be like finding one from the teens by then. All that will be left is the occasional high mintage late 1950s. S mints will be all but gone, 40s will become scarce except 1944, and the surviving circulating ones will all be low grade. Sorry for being so bleak, but that's what the future will be like! I say we will start to notice the effects of this by 2018. |
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Moderator
 United States
188440 Posts |
Some complain about only finding "common" wheat cents, but they are not so common these days. I celebrate any wheat find just as much as the silver finds.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
The last time I bought a box of cents I believe I only found eight wheats; and those were all 40's and 50's. I was hoping to find more 'face value' cents for my collection but it looks like I will have to go the 'pay-through-the-nose' route.
On the plus side, I did pull many sharp looking memorials to replace the dingy looking ones I had previously in my albums.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
It wouldn't be a linear event, I don't think. Every year billions of pennies cast a shadow over the billions of billions of old pennies, so the rate is exponential. At least they're not getting picked at by your banks like they are here. Here you're pretty lucky if you find anything from the early 1960s, but that's probably because our designs change with more frequency than American change.
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Valued Member
Canada
116 Posts |
@Libertad
How do you know the banks are picking out the old pennies?
Or are your referring to the complete removal of the penny from circulation?
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Valued Member
Canada
116 Posts |
I find wheat cents all the time in Canada. surprising to see how many US coins are in our change. Some boxes of pennies are 50% US coin. Don't have every mint, but by years I have collected a handful of 10's, 20's and all dates from the 30's and up. All from Canadian Banks. Unfortunately with the cancellation of our penny is is now very difficult to continue this hobby. :( Another thing that is happening is the rise in the price of copper. Non-collectors using automated machines are filtering out the older pennies that contain copper. The coins still exist but for how long? |
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Valued Member
Puerto Rico
92 Posts |
Last summer I found a 1913-S penny in a bank box so that is proof that there are still rare coins to be found in bank boxes. Here is the original post if you want to see the 1913-S: https://goccf.com/t/154443 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2850 Posts |
Found a 1926-S in a bank box a month or two ago. It looked like it had been dug up by someone and they spent it. Funny thing is I had just bought one off of ebay a week prior to finding it. |
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Moderator
Australia
16829 Posts |
Quote:
...I'd say around 2030... There is no way the American 1 cent coin will still be circulating by 2030. I'd give it until 2020 at the latest before it becomes obsolete and is withdrawn. Quote:
...and the surviving circulating ones will all be low grade. You seem to be operating under the assumption that American 1 cent coins "circulate" today in the same sense that they circulated a hundred years ago. They do not. The wear rate of 1 cent coins is far lower than it used to be, because of the amount of time they typically spend sitting in hoards, jars etc. If you "spent" a Wheat penny today, how many hands would it "circulate" among before finding its way back into a hoard where it will sit for a few more years? Surely no more than three: you, the shop assistant you gave it to, and the person the shop assistant gives it to. A 1 cent coin back in 1913 would have seen more circulation in a week than a typical modern zincoln will see for it's entire existence. Wheat pennies disappeared from "circulation" long ago, in the sense of coins that have not been sitting around buried in a vault or hoard but passing from bank to person to shop continuously. The only ones you will find in "circulation" today are ones that have escaped from hoards and collections, where they have probably been sitting for decades. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1217 Posts |
I have done a few thousands of dollars of pennies this year. Maybe 5% are older than 1940. Few rare ones. Did find an 09 vdb in circulation. It's tough to get anywhere near a decent set of pre-40.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1157 Posts |
5% sounds like a lot for pennies. That would be 1 out of every 20 pennies being a wheat from 1940 or older. Or 2.5 every roll pre 40s pennies per every roll.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
609 Posts |
I usually get 5-7 per box, ranging from the 30s to 58. I have found like 2 from the teens, but you could barely read the date. I'm attempting to put together the whole set from circulation.. Never gonna finish  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1157 Posts |
its all about the fun really. I see people here calling it fishing, well I fish also, and I enjoy CRH just as much :-)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1217 Posts |
No approx. 5% of the wheat pennies I find are older than 40. So maybe 1/box or slightly less
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
I just finished up a box with around 20 - a pretty good haul for me. I agree with Sap - I think we will likely see the cent pulled from circulation before all the wheaties disappear.
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Valued Member
United States
144 Posts |
It seems that I come up with 1-2 wheat cents for every 500 pennies that I search through.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,908 |
Posted 10/15/2013 12:18 pm
